I really don’t remember when it first dawned on me that my wife’s behavior was changing. In hindsight, I think it began several years before it really became apparent to me, although I think my family could see it before I did!

This Alzheimer’s part of our story really started in late 2016, when my wife and I decided to have one last, short, overseas holiday,

A cruise to Japan and a quick bus tour in China seemed appropriate. And it was. We thoroughly enjoyed the cruise but, halfway through the land journey, we both succumbed to the ‘flu’. Mine was tolerable and I began recovery but my wife’s health deteriorated rapidly and she was put into intensive care for three days in Beijing. Then she was in and out of a coma for four weeks before being evacuated back home to a Melbourne hospital. As she strengthened, medical advice was to transfer her for rehabilitation at a clinic. I could see then that the prospect of having her home again was bleak – but, the medicos and my family reluctantly agreed that I could try at home first. And it worked! We survived and had some quality times with help, here at home, for nearly two years. The next part of my journey is told elsewhere on this site.